Uncensored CMO

Nils Leonard has spent over 20 years in the advertising and design industries working at a number of the most recognised agencies in London. In 2017, he founded the Uncommon Creative Studio alongside Lucy Jameson and Natalie Graeme, which aims to be “a creative studio building brands the real world is happy exists”. This episode is split into 3 parts, including a bonus segment from my recording with Nils over a year ago. Here's what we covered:Part 1 - Creating brands you wish existed How Nils turned art into a careerHow he found the 1 ad land job at the Job centreThe importance of culture & trust in the turnaround of GreyWhy it’s always the people and not the name above the door you should care aboutThe importance of being so clear on your mission that people choose to be in the roomHow Volvo Life Paint was the inspiration for UncommonWhy you should invest in your own idea rather than begging others to do itMystery project names, secret hotels and being followed by private investigatorsHow Halo coffee came into the worldWhy the stories we tell ourselves manifest who we areHow panic drove the early success for the agencyThe power of a website with nothing on itWalking away from a major new client because it didn’t lead to Uncommon workGiving young men confidence via the one second suitPart 2 - The Uncommon workWhy Uncommon’s B&Q campaign brought tears to my eyesUncovering a real truth that led to those funny bright orange posters for B&QBlowing things up with Reality TV stars for ITVWhy we need to make the Ad break as entertaining as the programmeBacking start ups with an Uncommon acceleratorMoving from advertising to design, experience and new product launchesWhy the Olympics needs to hold up a mirror to the world right nowAn Uncommon year to win Campaign Agency of the YearHow the Pandemic crisis put creativity into overdriveThe emotion of seeing people in the office againNils gives his best advice to CMO’s on how to get to the best workPainting a picture of cultural success as much as commercial successDon’t be ashamed of talking about your personal ambition to make an impact in the worldJim Carey “if you can fail at what you don’t love why wouldn’t you risk trying at something you do”How fear gives us loopholes to get out of what we should be doingWhy you can’t brief someone else on your dream. Only you can make it happen.Part 3 - a pre-pandemic view on the worldAn early mistake by Nils when he did ‘release copy’ too early how Jon shut down the undergroundWhy your personal purpose matters and how we are seeing a return to creativityThe Gigabyte landfill of social content that no-body is asking forHow people used to look forward to the Ads as much as the programs themselvesIs the fire in your belly stronger than the fear in your head?Breaking the internet with BrewDog’s first ever TV AdHow we entered the age of outrage and sharing what we are offended byWhy you should treat outdoor like InstagramThe woods are burning so make a choice because everything we do is something we don’t doHow making good work is actually a magnet for talentWhat the Uncensored CMO’s mission should be to galvanise people to start their own ventureMake a difference in the world because our time is short

Pick up a copy of Steve's book "Can't Sell, Wont Sell" here.Steve was European Creative Director (OgilvyOne) and Global Creative Director (Wunderman) either side of starting his own agency, HTW, where, in the seven years the agency operated, he won more Cannes Lions (18) in his discipline than any creative director in the world. His work has subsequently featured in the D&AD Copy Book. He has also authored Changing the world is the only fit work for a grown man; How to write better copy; and How to do better creative work - the latter becoming the most expensive advertising book ever when it traded on amazon for £3,854 a copy.What we covered in this episode:Why a propose driven entry will increase your chances of winning a CannesWhy creative should come up with an idea to dramatise the benefit of the brand and then sell it to the clientHow Turkeys beat Lions and what that says about our priorities areCreative awarded campaigns are less effective than in the entire 24 year history of the IPA databaseDo people still believe in advertising’s role in creating demand? We need to see our purpose as commercial againThe drug of fast data. Why we prioritise what is easy to measure rather than what worksLack of accountability to track and evaluate the impact over the long termWhy you should judge a CMO on year 2The importance of winning the board room battleClients no longer appreciates the time and talent to create great work. The public now to anything they can to avoid advertising. A once powerful business tool is now debased and devalued. Chairman of D&AD.Dropped commercial purpose for social purposeGreat examples of social and commercial purpose combiningWhy social purpose shouldn’t be marketing strategyFirst purpose is shareholders and employeesLazy solution to a complex marketing problemThe insanity of Gillette’s toxic masculinity and how it performed badly against menHow did we disconnect from the audience we serve? 84% are 18-40, 80% AB etc we live in a London centric metropolitan bubbleHow regional agencies reacted differently to London onesSteve’s surprise at the reaction for his book and why he believes social purpose is being pushed by a small cliqueWhy the boycott of GB News should worry us whatever political side we atWhy Twitter pressure groups shouldn’t dictate your media strategyWhy fear is driving the politicisation of businessHow pampers got social and commercial purpose rightSteve’s manifestos for changeEvery speech should end with the commercial value of AdvertisingA new initiative to make creative effectivenessAwards panels needs cognitive diversityWhat a CMO thinks of CannesHow people fear speaking upSteve’s vision for the future of awards

Dolvett Quince is a real inspiration to his millions of followers but it’s not his Fitness that captured my attention, although you cant argue with the chiselled good looks and winning smile, but his mindset that really impresses. Having overcome a very troubled childhood Dolvett has not let any excuse stop him from pursuing what he loves and being successful. In this episode he shares the mindset that shaped him and the habits that helped him become successful. Consider this a workout for your mind.What we covered in this episode:Dolvett shares his troubled family background and how it was both a gift and a curseThe impact of being told he would never amount to anythingHow facing adversity shaped his outlook on life.The power of forgiveness and how it sets you free.Dolvett’s plan to become the next 007Why giving away everything he knows to other trainers led to his successWhy Jeff Bezos no longer packs his own boxesHow do you scale yourself when you hit maximum capacityWhy he added cheats into his diet – leaning to clean and earning the cheatOvercoming your perception of yourself and why it’s all in your mindHow he could predict who would succeed on The Biggest LoserThe impact of the Pandemic on his Fitness business and how ‘stopping helps you see’The power of persistence and joining the 1% club of podcastsWhat Dolvett is doing nextCan you stay humble and also be successful?The power of Self Love to help you succeedWhat Dolvett would tell to his 21 year old selfThe 3 kinds of people in the WWW, those that Wait, Wish & WillChanging lives ‘one rep at a time’ and other great quotesThe reason for Dolvett’s next book ‘work out the doubt’The importance of learning from failure and getting back up and going againWhy the most successful people are those that teach others

What we covered in this episode:What is Econometrics and why you do it?The critical role of people in any econometric projectCristiano, Coke and the complete misattribution of dataImportance of senior buy-in to an Econometrics projectMaking econometrics like art on a Friday not maths on a MondayMarketing as an investment not a costHow the data captures the behaviour of peopleWhat Grace learnt when rebranding her businessWhy Grace has been turning business downHow Jon created the Uncensored CMO brand in 45minsWhy every tech company has a blue logoTraditional vs Modern marketing and who is rightIs creative effectiveness really in decline?How life stage influences media choice more than anythingThe Wrong and the Right of it and what the data really saysWhy ‘it depends’ is usually the right answerThe importance of evidence over opinion on social mediaDoes paid search actually lead to sales?The role of search as a window into consumer demandDoes Share of Search actually predict demand for your brandThe one thing Marketers are not talking about but should beAbout Dr Grace KiteWith more than 20 years’ experience, Dr Grace Kite is a business economist who’s worked on more than 120 econometrics projects across all the main advertising buying categories. In each of these categories, she has developed deep knowledge on market trends and the true nature of competition.Grace is a columnist at marketing week and WARC and a regular speaker on marketing effectiveness. With over 4,000 social media followers, she now appears alongside the likes of Mark Ritson and Les Binet. She believes that knowledge that arises from effectiveness analysis doesn’t get fed back to the people that plan campaigns often enough. Her writing and talks set out to ‘lift the lid’ in a way that normal people can understand.After earning a PhD in Economics, Grace took on increasingly senior roles at Mindshare, Millward Brown, Holmes & Cook, Mediacom, PHD and OMD. In 2010 she founded the business now known as magic numbers.Her work has led to twelve IPA Effectiveness award winners plus a Cannes Grand Prix. She was a technical judge for the 2020 IPA awards, and will judge for WARC in 2021.

Rory Sutherland is the Vice Chairman of Ogilvy, an attractively vague job title which has allowed him to co-found a behavioral science practice within the agency. ​Before founding Ogilvy Change, Rory was a copywriter and creative director at Ogilvy for over 20 years, having joined as a graduate trainee in 1988. He has variously been President of the IPA, Chair of the Judges for the Direct Jury at Cannes, and has spoken at TED Global. He writes regular columns for the Spectator, Market Leader and Impact, and also occasional pieces for Wired. He is the author of two books: The Wiki Man, available on Amazon at prices between £1.96 and £2,345.54, depending on whether the algorithm is having a bad day, and Alchemy, The surprising Power of Ideas which don't make Sense, to be published in the UK and US in March 2019.  ​What we covered in this episode:Why economics doesn’t explain why people buy thingsHow the channel can be more important than the messageWhy dropping your price should be the most controversial decision you ever makeThe book that gave Rory a nudge towards behavioural scienceWhy 1 x 10 is not the same thing as 10 x 1 from a marketing perspectiveErgodicity. The word every Marketer needs to learn.Why the better your creative is the less you should target itWhy Effectiveness is not the same as EfficiencyThe role uncertainty and risk avoidance plays in choosing a brandWhy Usain Bolt eats McDonalds chicken nuggetsHow to charge for creative workAlchemy. How marketing can add as much value as the product itself.Why it’s time we appreciated Country music and Worthers originalsHow David Ogilvy described people who don’t respect the consumerWhy being over 40 in Marketing means you must be brilliantThe case for moving out of LondonWhy students should be allowed to spend their student loan on anythingFind out something Rory has never told anyone, it might surprise you!

Rupert Howell is one of the founders of the advertising agency HHCL & Partners famous for campaigns for Tango, The AA, Ronseal, First Direct and Go amongst to name just a few. They were awarded ‘Agency of the Decade’ by Campaign in the 1990’s and experienced phenomenal growth for over a decade before being sold to Chime.We covered so much ground in this bumper 2 hour episode, so here's the list of what we touched upon:How Rupert made HHCL the best agency of the 90’sRuperts New Business Mantra – Honesty. Respect. Trust.Why saying ‘I don’t know’ and ‘we got it wrong’ is so importantHow the agency’s sole focus is Advertising but the Clients sole focus is the businessWhy new business should always be separate to the day to day account managementHow Rupert became ‘the finest new business director of all time’How to win a pitch even after you have lost itWhy the pitch process begins with the phone call and only ends when its announced in CampaignThe sole purpose of the pitch is to win and not to solve the clients business problemWhy HHCL had a strike rate of 65% for new businessWhat the company annual report can tell you for the pitch processWhy you should try and get your customer promotedHow Carling Black Label inspired the most successful Tango Advertising of all timeHow Tango destroyed Fanta and forced Coke to withdraw it from the marketHow a call from a Surgeon led to the Tango Slap commercial being withdraw from marketWhy the ‘4th Emergency Service’ transformed The AA and how the bold idea was sold inHow spending time with an AA team out on a call led to the ideaThe importance of winning your internal teams and why they matter as much as your customersInterrogating the product until ‘it confesses its strength’ Why the harder you practice the luckier you get is just as true for an agencyThe real hard yards of the start-up phase that meant not taking a day off in 3 yearsHow tabloids create controversy and how to respond to itWhy relationships are the secret to really succeeding in businessTurning down offers to sell the agency including a £1million bribeWhy HHCL accepted an offer from Chime with the support from Sir Martin SorrellWhy so few agencies ever succeed after being acquired by a networkWhy HHCL was never the same after Rupert left and why he would never go backThe importance of timing for Founders handing over to the next generationDealing with bullies, bribary and negotiating an exit from McCann with a boat & DB9 as consolationWhich celebrities are still speaking to Rupert after he left ITVWhy social media is driven by click bait and negative headlinesWhy you should give up the news, except perhaps local newsThe Pros and Cons of a British free pressHow to get a non-exec roleFollow meTwitter | @uncensoredCMOLinkedInContact meWebsite | www.uncensoredcmo.comEmail – jon@uncensoredcmo.com

“the buying of time or space is not the taking out of a hunting license on someone’s private preserve, but it is the renting of a stage on which we may perform” - Howard Gossage This is just one of the tremendous quotes contained in Paul Feldwick’s intriguingly titled new book ‘Why Does the Pedlar Sing?’ about what creatives really means in Advertising.Here's what we covered in this episode:How a Shakespear play inspired the title of the bookA short history of Advertising and the different models usedThe importance of Daniel Kahnemans availability and affect heuristicThe Adland myth that entertainment doesn’t sellShowmanship and why we should all be more like PT BarnumWhy bad research forces you to do one thing whilst actually doing anotherBarclaycard and the most honest case history of making an Ad ever writtenHow Rowan Atchison inspired one of the greatest Ads ever madeWhy any process of discovery will involve a lot of trial and error How PT Barnum created Fame for his Jenny Lind TourWhy celebrity fame and brand building are far more similar than people care to admitWhy we should be talking about Fame rather than Mental AvailabilityWhat we can learn from Strictly Come Dancing“I had more energy & ingenuity” The importance of energy in creating & sustaining successThe 4 different facets of Fame that are critical for successPaul’s manifesto for reclaiming Creativity

Damian Symons is the CEO of Clear M&C Saatchi and author of 'From Choas to Clarity', which we reference a bunch in this conversation. He shares some of the excellent insight gained from this study of over 700 CEO’s and CMO’s into the changing role of the CMO over the past year and more.What we covered in this episodeHow aligned is the CEO and CMO when it comes to business priorities?Why is the CMO a lot more influential now than a year ago?How a crisis makes you a lot more connected to your customers and colleaguesHow business strategy and the actions required to deliver it get easily disconnectedWhy Marketing needs to be much more than just ‘colouring in’Why CMO’s need to be more accountable for both short and long term investmentsHow CEO’s become more focussed on the long terms whilst demanding short term action from their CMOThe importance of a clear narrative, clear evidence and a clear short, medium and long term goalsWhy successful CMO’s aren’t always the best marketersHow you can make this crisis the best thing that ever happened to youThe failure of CMO’s to nurture talent and why no-one wants the jobThe 4 point plan to create clarity from chaos

Confession time. As a Saints fan, this is certainly a case of mixing business with pleasure. But bear with me for a moment. A year ago Saints suffered the worst defeat in premier league history going down 9-0 at home to Leicester. For most clubs this would have meant firing the manager and sparking an inevitable tumble into relegation and financial uncertainty. But not Southampton. They stuck by their man and a year later are challenging at the top of the Premier League briefly going top on the same day as this interview was recorded (obviously my motivational skills were critical ….). So what does this have to do with Marketing? Well, it turns out quite a lot! Most of us will have faced a giant setback at some point (if you haven’t then maybe you not trying hard enough!) and how you respond is one of the most important things you’ll ever do in your career. Understanding the importance of your belief and values, the role consistency plays, communicating much more than usual, learning to play as a team etc. In this episode, I meet David Thomas, Commercial Director to find out what has transformed Southampton as a Football Club and what you can learn from it.Here's what we discussed:How the greatest defeat in Premier League history led to Saints challenging the bestWhat Premier League managers and CMO’s have in common and the importance of consistencyThe secret to why playing behind closed doors might be playing into Saints handsThe Southampton Way – the role of walking the talk in the transformation of the clubHow a good strategy means you can handle a few knocks without losing your wayWhy Saints chefs made over 1000 meals a week during lockdown How the sport sponsorship model had to be turned on its head and why it shouldn’t be called sponsorshipThe need for accountability and ROI for any partnership to succeedWhy Saints have the ‘John Lewis’ of kit launches and the most engaged social media of any clubHow values and belief are at the heart of any great Challenger brandWhy the club going into Administration led the foundations of success todayTurning potential into excellence and the importance of not punishing failureWhy one of the most capped England women chose to coach the Saints women in the 6th tier!How Saints are tackling racism in football.A top 6 finish versus an FA Cup appearance

Here's what we covered in this episode:Who is Orlando and what is Lemon all about?Have the insights in Lemon changed on the back of the Coronavirus crisis?How emotion plays out in online videoWhy emotion is imperative online when you only have 6 seconds to capture people's attentionWhy you don't just need to be rational because your ads are targetedBrands should be using online advertising not only for activation, but also for brand buildingExamples of brands and ads doing this wellHow advertising is similar to writing a novel and artWhy we've lost some humility in our advertisingWhat the vital ingredients are to make online advertising work effectivelyFollow me:Twitter | @uncensoredCMOLinkedIn